TAO TE CHING
The Tao Te Ching is a Chinese classic text traditionally credited to the 6th-century BC sage Laozi. The oldest excavated portion dates back to the late 4th century BC, but modern scholarship dates other parts of the text as having been written — or at least compiled — later than the earliest portions of the Zhuangzi. The Tao Te Ching, along with the Zhuangzi, is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism. It also strongly influenced other schools of Chinese philosophy and religion, including Legalism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, which was largely interpreted through the use of Taoist words and concepts when it was originally introduced to China. Its influence has spread widely outside East Asia and it is among the most translated works in world literature.
The George Harrison song “All Things Must Pass” was originally recorded by Billy Preston – under the name “All Things (Must) Pass” – on his 1970 Apple Records release Encouraging Words. The lyrics were inspired by a 1968 poem by a different sort of guru, Timothy Leary called “All Things Pass”, a psychedelic adaptation of a classical Chinese text called the Tao Te Ching.
(September 2014)
